


Bittersweet

by Batdad (MizGoat)



Series: The Quartermaster [9]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst and Humor, M/M, Nightmares, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-05-16 08:12:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14807603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MizGoat/pseuds/Batdad
Summary: It's a bad night for nightmares, but at least none of them are alone.





	Bittersweet

It was uncomfortably warm, but Steady tried not to squirm under the added heat of Heart curled up in his lap. Only they weren’t Steady and Heart yet, they were 2038 and 1857.

1857 had wanted to watch a sunset. The constant storms of Kamino meant that he had never seen one. 2038 didn’t quite get the appeal of watching the sky, but he did get the appeal of sitting someplace quiet with 1857 in a good mood. That was how they came to be sitting on the roof of the building being used as a temporary barracks and squinting into the horizon.

2038 shifted his hand to cover the left side of 1857’s chest and felt his heart beating in a reassuring rhythm. 

“It’s so beautiful,” 1857 whispered and squeezed 2038’s arm in excitement.

“Sure is,” 2038 said and turned to press a kiss into 1857’s temple. He lingered a moment and took a deep breath. 1857 had always smelled good, and he’d had this dream enough times to know that he didn’t have long.

“You aren’t looking,” 1857 started to say but the words were lost in the roar of artillery. The glare of the sunset had changed to the smoky haze of the battlefield, and the heart beating below Steady’s hand began to flutter. He could feel blood oozing out between his fingers.

“I’m sorry, Sarge,” Heart burbled out. His lips had blood on them now too. The grip on his arm loosened.

“Don’t be,” he replied and his voice wobbled. It didn’t matter how many times he had this dream, his chest ached with grief every time.

Something was poking him in the temple. Heart was bleeding out, and something was poking him in the temple.

Steady woke up to see a groggy looking Brass peering down at him. With a grunt he tried to remember why Brass was even in his bed.

Earlier that night Tadhg had crawled in after dealing with nightmares of his own. It had been late and he hadn’t wanted to hike all the way across the ship to Brass’s bunk. Brass had no such compunctions, so when he came looking for Tadhg and found him in Steady’s bed he had simply crawled in and added himself to the pile. Steady had been on the edge of objecting, but when he had seen how pleased Tadhg was with the arrangement, he lost his nerve.

“You’re crying,” Brass stated. “You made my shoulder wet,” he added. “‘S ok. Don’t cry.” And with that Brass leaned forward and kissed Steady’s forehead right between his eyebrows.

Steady let out an indignant squak. After a moment of franticly fumbling he managed to work a hand loose from the knot of bedsheets and body parts. He placed his palm firmly against Brass’s cheek and shoved his face toward Tadhg.

“That’s your lover. Kiss him, not me.” In the dark Steady couldn’t tell if his advice had been followed, but Brass shifted his weight a little.

There was a momentary pause and then the bunk began to shake slightly with Tadhg’s laughter. It was breathy and crackling and it came out in rough gasps over damaged vocal chords. Steady loved every note of it.

Brass seemed to agree because he settled his head against one of Tadhg’s shoulders and with a small happy sigh, fell back asleep.

“Do you think he’ll remember any of this in the morning?” Steady asked in a whisper.

“I sincerely hope so,” came Tadhg’s quiet response.


End file.
